Vřesová studánka in the Hrubý Jeseník mountains served as a hidden refuge where gymnast Věra Čáslavská trained for the 1968 Olympic Games following the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, according to regional historical reports. Situated at an elevation of approximately 1,300 meters, the remote site provided both isolation and a stark training ground as political pressure and threats from the KGB forced the three-time Olympic champion into hiding.
The Mountain Hideout Above Hrubý Jeseník
The ridge of Hrubý Jeseník is known for its austere beauty and harsh weather. According to historical accounts documented by Paměť národa, a stone shelter and spring have long marked the location of Vřesová studánka. For centuries, pilgrims visited a local chapel at the site. A larger sanctuary built in 1846 and later replaced by a church in 1926–1927 ultimately burned down on May 10, 1946, after being struck by lightning. By 1968, only foundations and an operating mountain chalet remained, managed by the local mountain service.
When Soviet-led troops invaded Czechoslovakia in the night of August 20–21, 1968, to suppress the Prague Spring reforms, the political climate shifted instantly. Šumperk, where the Czechoslovak women’s gymnastics team had been holding a training camp ahead of the Mexico City Olympics, was occupied by Polish troops. Citizens gathered outside Hotel Grand in protest, including Čáslavská, who was a prominent athlete and a signer of the reformist “Two Thousand Words” manifesto.
Fleeing the KGB and Finding Refuge
Radio broadcasts warned that signatories of the manifesto faced immediate arrest by Soviet forces. Local officials and sports administrators quickly recognized the danger facing Čáslavská. Zdeněk Zerzáň, then the chief of the mountain service and manager of the chalet at Vřesová studánka, recalled receiving a warning from local Communist Party officials that the KGB was actively searching for the gymnast, as reported by Paměť národa. Zerzáň contacted the team’s coach, Jaroslava Matlochová, and offered a vacant apartment at the mountain station.
Isolated in the high-altitude wilderness, Čáslavská maintained her rigorous Olympic preparation under extraordinary psychological strain. Deprived of standard gymnasium equipment, she improvised her routines outdoors. Historical records note that she used a tree trunk in place of a balance beam to practice her routines before the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Legacy and Subsequent Olympic Triumph
Despite the disruption, forced hiding, and political turmoil surrounding her departure, Čáslavská traveled to the Mexico City Olympic Games later that year.
Today, the original chalet at Vřesová studánka no longer stands—having been part of the state enterprise Restaurace a jídelny Jeseník until 1981—but the site remains a landmark of athletic endurance and political resistance. An altar stone created by sculptor Otmar Oliva and stonemason Petr Novák was placed at the site in 2017, where memorial masses are held several times a year to honor the history of the ridge.
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